Management Team
Ashish Malik
CEO
Ashish Malik is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BVT. He was previously the VP of Global Marketing for Biologics at Bayer CropScience. He was responsible for managing the portfolio of biological assets for the company and advancing the strategy to develop integrated crop solutions that include biological products together with traditional chemical products, seeds, traits, seed treatments and services. Ashish joined Bayer CropScience through the company’s acquisition of AgraQuest in 2012. At AgraQuest, he was Senior Vice President of Global Marketing and a member of the company’s Executive Team. Other previous roles have included Head of Commercial Operations for the Home Care Division at Syngenta, Business Unit Director at Imerys and Marketing Manager at BFGoodrich. Ashish serves on the Board of the Biopesticides Industry Alliance, holds an MBA with concentrations in Finance and Marketing from Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Swarthmore College.
Kyle Appleby
CFO
Kyle has been the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of BVT since June 30, 2015. Since 2007, Kyle has been providing CFO services to a number of public and private companies both domestic and international. He has focused on assisting companies with financial reporting and controls, governance, operations, regulatory compliance and taxation. Prior to 2007, Kyle worked for several public accounting firms in Canada. He is a member in good standing of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada and the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario.
Christoph Lehnen
Senior Technical Manager – Europe
Christoph is the Senior Technical Manager at BVT responsible for the management of all EMEA-based trials and demonstrations of the company’s proprietary organic crop protection system. He has extensive experience within the agricultural technology industry having held senior positions in product development, marketing, sales and product launches over the past 29 years. Christoph has worked for the Swiss Federation leading a wheat breeding program (spelt) before joining one of Syngenta’s legacy companies as a product manager. Within Syngenta, he has held positions in R&D, marketing, sales, country head (Zimbabwe), business manager and product management. Over his years at Syngenta, he has lead and engaged in a number of projects for biological control. He received his Master’s of Science Degree in Agronomy at ETH Zurich.
Gerardo Suazo
Senior Technical Manager – The Americas
Gerardo Suazo is Senior Technical Manager in the Americas for BVT, responsible for advancing technologies, designing and executing R&D programs, managing trials and the regulatory registration process in Mexico, and supporting commercial activities. He brings 10 years of international and multidisciplinary experience in various areas of the industry including market research, product development, technology transfer, as well as market launch. Prior to joining BVT, Gerardo worked as Product Technical Lead at Syngenta where he led regional launch activities with the two largest US and Canadian retailers and developed novel technologies for greenhouse growers. He holds a PhD in Horticulture from Cornell University; an MBA from the University of North Carolina, MSc in International Horticulture from Essex University; and a Bachelor’s degree in horticulture from the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico.
Slawomir Bialoskorski
Plant Operations Manager
Slawomir is the Plant Operations Manager responsible for developing, streamlining and managing production processes in the BVT manufacturing plant in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He has over 17 years managing manufacturing, packaging and quality operations for food and beverage companies. With experience in plant start-ups, production line design and process improvement, he utilizes the philosophy, methods and tools of Lean Six Sigma and has his Six Sigma Black Belt Masters Certification from the Schulich Executive Education Centre at York University. Slawomir spent the majority of his career on new process, equipment and product commissioning, lines automation, standardization and documentation of operational processes, team hiring, team training and development, and the implementation of product safety and quality systems. He also has a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Guelph.
Ian Collinson
Sales Manager
Ian Collinson is a Sales Manager for BVT. Ian is a key member of the company’s R&D, product, operations and sales teams, and has been instrumental in setting up BVT’s manufacturing facility. Having worked at BVT for more than eight years, Ian is passionate about the product development and adoption of the company’s technology into an Integrated Pest Management program with growers. Ian received his Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto.
Mason Newark
Field Technical Manager
Mason is the Field Technical Manager for BVT’s US market with both development and sales support responsibilities. Prior to BVT, Mason was with AMVAC Chemical where he had field development, technical service, and regulatory support roles as a Product Development Specialist. Mason has a Doctorate in Plant Pathology from the University of Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Plant Sciences from Cornell University. During his doctorate, Mason explored the fungicide resistance, disease management, and population genetics of Stagonosporopsis species causing gummy stem blight on cucurbits. Prior to graduate school, Mason successfully managed field research programs at both the University of Delaware and University of Maryland in soil health and vegetable pathology respectively. Mason grew up on a small farm in Delaware, where, among other livestock, his family kept honeybees.
Connect with us
Have a question about BVT, the bee vectoring process, sustainable farming practices or just want to share feedback? We want to hear from you!